There has been a citadel or lookout at the top of Montjuic for over a thousand years. Now, it’s the home of tourist attractions — the museum of catalan art, the Miro foundation, the 1992 Olympics site, and the castle.
We approached from the Placa de Espana, which was kind of an error. It looks great on the map, but it’s imposing while not being especially grand. Uninspiring, even.
Notice how I’m not actually showing the hill, but looking down? The views of the city are great, and become spectacular.
The fortress at the top has been built and rebuilt, and has served at various times to defend the city below as well as to attack it. During the Dictatorship it held political prisoners, including the then-mayor of Barcelona, who was executed there. It may be the ultimate revenge of the Catalans to take a place with so much bad history behind it and turn it into a place of beauty.
History is thick on the ground here.
We took a stroll through the former Olympic site. If you remember watching the Barcelona games, you probably couldn’t wait to get here and see the magnificent site. Well, it’s kind of a nothing. A sun-bleached treeless plaza with a stadium that’s made of fake stone. Kind of meh.
We were much happier with the beautiful gardens that line the walkways, with vast displays of wildflowers and palm trees. And of course the amazing vistas of the sea and the city beyond.
There are other ways to get up than walking. Actually, the Playa de Espana entrance has escalators most of the way. We took those as far as we could, and walked the rest of the way up, staying in the shade as much as possible. But from Barceloneta, you can take the cable car. It’s something like 9 euros round-trip.
That hill is the finish line for many a bike race.
My legs hurt just thinking about it!